21 October 1996
Dear DAPTF Central Division Members:
The main focus of this letter is to summarize the proceedings of the 3rd meeting of the US Central Division Working Group of the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force.
Thirty-one people attended the 3rd Meeting of the US Central Division Working Group at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in northwest Indiana on 14-15 September 1996. Eight talks were presented that covered a variety of amphibian conservation issues. After the paper session the group discussed issues including: whether we want to include advocacy and activism in our mission, the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program protocols, and whether we are ready to launch a Division-wide monitoring program. What follows is a brief summary of the meeting.
Announcement of the Central Division homepage on the World Wide
Web
Any items pertaining to amphibian conservation in the Central
Division that you would like posted can be sent to Chris Phillips. It
was suggested that the names and addresses of the Central Division
members should be posted to the homepage. If you do not wish to have
your name listed, notify Chris Phillips as soon as possible. The URL
is http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/main/collections/herp_links/DAPTFCentralUS.html
Advocacy and Activism
The possibility of including these activities in our mission was
discussed. The feeling of the group was that such activities could
undermine our scientific credibility and that we should advertise our
expertise rather than our opinions. Each member should make the
appropriate educational and regulatory agencies in their community
aware that members of the DAPTF are available for advice or comment
on issues related to amphibian populations, especially wetland
issues. Examples of regulatory agencies that should be aware of our
expertise include: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, State Departments of Conservation/Natural
Resources, and local zoning boards and planning commissions.
Educational groups include: your local school district, your local
park district, Audubon Society, and other clubs and organizations
with an interest in natural history.
The North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP)
Protocols
Five specific protocols for monitoring amphibian populations have
been written by scientists from all over North America and formally
presented to the scientific community for scrutiny. The protocols
are: Terrestrial Salamander Surveys, Anuran Calling Surveys, Aquatic
Surveys, Western Surveys, and Amphibian Atlassing. Because the anuran
calling protocols are closest to implementation, we spent most of our
time discussing the validity of the methods and how the Central
Division would be involved in their implementation. After vigorous
discussion, the majority opinion was that, while the methods were
statistically sound, most of the call routes in the Central Division
would involve extremely marginal habitat such as drainage ditches.
The group did not feel that we could commit our limited resources to
such an endeavor. We decided that anuran calling surveys should be
carried out in the Central Division but that each state's Department
of Conservation/Natural Resources should take the lead. We identified
an agency representative in each of the five states who would be the
most appropriate point of contact for the NBS group that is
coordinating the anuran calling effort. The Central Division of the
DAPTF could provide scientific advice and volunteers.
Division-wide Monitoring Programs
With the decision not to organize and lead the anuran calling
surveys, the group turned to the question of what Division-wide
monitoring program(s) would we organize and implement? We decided to
put our efforts into an Atlassing project. Two levels of coverage
were discussed. The first involves a small number (5 per state) of
non-randomly chosen sites that have long-term protection and ideally,
a history of amphibian monitoring. Eighteen such sites were
identified at the 1994 Central Division meeting. The second would be
the more traditional coverage where the area of concern (the Central
Division in this case) is divided into large blocks (counties or
degree blocks) and each is searched over a period of years. The main
issues we identified were how to control for differences in effort
and skill level among the various field personnel. No clear solutions
to these problems were identified but the group agreed that these
were issues that must be dealt with before any Atlassing project
could be launched. The first step was identified as establishing
communication with other groups who are either currently engaged in
Atlassing or who are considering it.
If anyone would like to take the lead in directing the Central Division's Atlassing efforts, please drop me a line.
Finally, I would like to thank all those who participated in the meeting, especially Mike Lannoo who cooked and provided moral support. Special thanks to the folks at the Indian Dunes National Lakeshore; John Kwilosz our host and Ralph Grundel who set it all up.
Sincerely,
Chris Phillips
Central Division US DAPTF Coordinator